Chapter 386: Here I Come (2)

Kai stared at the pieces of ice scattered at Serphine’s feet and asked, “Serphine, did it hurt?”

“What?” Serphine blinked and asked back.

“I’m asking if your feet hurt when they froze just now.”

“Seriously, am I being underestimated?” She made a slightly annoyed face and flipped him off again with both hands. “Before being called the Enlightened Archduke, I was known as the Archduke of Frost. Something like a part of my body freezing is not enough to talk about pain.”

“I see. I guess I’ll have to get into the real fight to find out...” Kai muttered to himself, wanting to better understand the effects of the Blessing of Pegasus.

He signaled his hand at Serphine. “Alright, then let’s get started for real.”

“Get started with what...?”

“The real match. Or should I say, a spar?”

“A spar? You and me?” Serphine asked again in surprise. “That’s the first I’ve ever heard of that.”

“Well, it’s the first time I’m saying it to you.”

“Sorry, but I don’t get it at all. There’s no reason for us to fight...”

“Instead of explaining everything one by one—” Kai abruptly extended his hand.

Boom!

Solar Photon Cannon blasted past her and barely missed.

“It’s quicker to just experience it.”

“Are you serious...?” Even though she was the Enlightened Archduke, confusion slowly appeared on Serphine's face as she was suddenly threatened. “Can you handle it?”

“One, I never do things I’ll regret.” Kai looked her in the eyes and continued, “Two, if I do end up doing something I regret—”

The corners of his lips curled into a grin. “I make sure not to regret it as best I can.”

***

“Dr. Jim.”

Back at headquarters, CEO Marco summoned Dr. Jim before he had even recovered from his travel fatigue.

“Yes.”

“Kai... I mean, Mr. Han. Didn’t it all go a bit too smoothly this time?”

“

Hm

, yes. I kind of got that feeling too.”

Perhaps because of Helik’s involvement Han Jung-Woo had seemed more worked up than necessary during yesterday’s conversation.

“Well, at least now we can save the Demon Realm content.”

“That’s a relief. Now we just need to work the development teams and fill in the scenario.”

“

Mhm

, I’ll leave that part to you. And also...” Marco said while looking at one of the walls made entirely of glass. “Muldine. Is there really no way to seal him?”

“Why do you ask that?”

“I’m just curious. And we did promise to cooperate as much as possible with sealing Muldine.”

“There is no change in what I said. As far as I know, there is no method for a player to seal a god.”

“

Hm,

so that means the scenario will proceed just as originally planned.”

“Unless something extreme happens, yes.”

“Anyway, keep looking for a way. You’re better suited for it than I am.”

“Understood.”

Just as Marco was about to dismiss Dr. Jim, the lead developer knocked and entered the conference room.

“What is it?”

“Sir... Did the negotiations fail?”

At the slightly resentful look in the lead developer’s eyes, Marco and Dr. Jim blinked in confusion.

“What do you mean? The negotiations ended perfectly.”

“Then why, why is Kai acting like this?”

Feeling a creeping sense of unease crawl up his back, Marco stood and asked, “What exactly is Mr. H- no, what exactly is Kai doing right now?”

The lead developer’s heavy sigh filled the room. “Seems like he’s about to kill an archduke today.”

***

“

Oh

, very nice.”

“No it’s not, you bastard!” Serphine shouted furiously at Kai’s muttering and moved swiftly.

She moves better than Kinessa.

One moment she was in front, the next she vanished, and cold air swept in from behind. That made it easier to track her location. All he had to do was watch where the temperature dropped.

And the Blessing of Pegasus, this buff is more useful than I imagined.

Serphine was now bleeding from the nose after taking a few hits from Kai. However, her health remained at 100%.

Which means she still feels pain and takes hits...

But her HP in the system didn’t decrease. In other words, Kai could fight as realistically as he wanted without holding back.

“Great!”

“No it’s not!”

Serphine’s sharp gaze grew even fiercer. At the same time, the temperature began to plummet.

Ding!

[The surrounding temperature is too low. Your movement speed is reduced by 20%.]

[You may suffer critical injuries from minor attacks.]

Kai cast a skill as soon as the debuff was applied. “Sunlight’s Warmth.”

However, it only lasted a moment. The debuff couldn’t be permanently removed In a place where the cold kept rushing in.

So this is possible too, huh?

Kai quietly admired it. Up until now, enemies would apply debuffs with some delay, but no one had spammed the same debuff every second like Serphine.

Things like poison damage only reduced health so they were easy enough to ignore...

But slowing movement and increasing the chance of critical hits was a kind of status effect that was deadly.

I guess an archduke is still an archduke.

Kai put on a smug grin as he thought the obvious. The fight against Kinessa had been real and he absolutely couldn’t afford to lose.

So there were a lot of things I couldn’t try back then.

This time would be different. He planned to test everything he couldn’t do before against Serphine.

***

“Crazy human,” Serphine defined Kai with just a single word.

“Please, I’ll take that as a compliment,” Kai replied with a sly grin and stood up after roughly finishing his meal. “Want to go again?”

“Your stamina is crazy too.”

“Weren’t you bored anyway? I thought you would enjoy this.”

“

Whew,

I don’t think that’s the point here,” Serphine shook her head with a tired expression.

It had been three days since Kai had hit her without warning. Since then, the two had fought non-stop. No, looking back now, it was hardly a fight. She had simply been used.

What a cunning human.

They fought, yet she was the only one being used. And her opponent had clearly become far stronger than he was three days ago.

“Aren’t you heading to the southern front?”

“Yoo Ha-Rin went instead, so it’s fine.”

When Kai and Serphine first started fighting, Kazura had burst into the room in shock. However, there was nothing he could do. All he was allowed was to tremble as Serphine’s Frozen Hell and Kai’s Absolute Zero clashed. The misunderstanding was eventually cleared, but Serphine's attitude toward Kai had changed from before.

Well, I guess that’s only natural.

After all, no one would stay calm after being attacked out of nowhere.

“Then let’s get started. It’s almost time.”

“Time? Time for what?” Serphine responded bluntly.

“I’m thinking of going to meet the other two next.”

Her eyes suddenly widened. “The other two... you don’t mean...?”

“You probably guessed right. I’m going to meet the other archdukes.”

“You're insane. Do you think an archduke is some idle being who will show up whenever you feel like meeting them?” As Kai silently stared at Serphine and she caught on to the meaning of his gaze, she yelled, “This is different! This is a different case!”

“Well, I doubt the others are that different. If they don’t come out, I’ll just smash up their territory. You think they’ll ignore that?”

“Do you even realize how many upper-ranked and top-rank demons are in the Demon Realm?”

“If they come out, that’s perfect for me. And if I keep beating down everyone who does come, the rest will show eventually, won’t they?”

That ridiculously reckless statement left Serphine at a loss for words. But it wasn’t a bad thing. No, it might even be a good thing.

“Well, I guess it’s not a loss for me if you weaken their forces...”

“Then tell me. What are the other two archdukes’ powers?”

Just as Serphine possessed the power of ice and Kinessa wielded illusions, it was highly likely that the other two archdukes each had a similar ability of their own.

“East is lightning. North is poison.”

“

Oh

, you’re telling me more easily than I expected.”

“Even country bumpkin demons know that much.”

“I see. I suppose archdukes are archdukes, after all.” Kai nodded and stood up. “Alright, let’s get started then?”

“You seriously want to go again...?”

“

Yeah.

I think it’ll be better if they have more experience.”

With that, Kai summoned his legion of fifty dullahans. They were fully armed and fully buffed, the proud army belonging only to Kai.

But they were basically scarecrows on the first day,

Fundamentally, the dullahan army possessed A.I. However, based on Kai’s experience, that A.I. wasn’t particularly advanced.

It’s about the level of a regular monster dullahans. Nothing more, nothing less.

Still, monsters controlled by players were generally stronger than ordinary monsters. The reason for that was simple.

They can learn.

The individual A.I. of each dullahan gained new patterns as they experienced different situations and battles.

We’ve had three fights in the past three days.

From the dullahans’ perspective, they had been killed three times. Like protagonists in novels who grew stronger with each reincarnation, they were gradually getting stronger too.

“Here we go.”

Serphine made it clear how annoyed she was but still faced Kai in the sparring match without complaint. The temperature around them dropped instantly, and a thin layer of frost formed over the surface of the dullahans’ equipment. Even so, their glowing red eyes only blazed even more fiercely.

Clang!

The dullahans were now the same level as Kai. Level 568. They were now too powerful to be considered mere dullahans and were specialists in combat. Kai watched their movements and became certain.

I could probably take on any of the world’s top eight guilds with these guys now.

Top-ranked players? Sure, their reflexes were great and their intelligence far surpassed that of dullahans, but...

Specs.

The difference in specs was just too big.

Clang, clang, clang!

“You filthy insects!”

For a brief moment, fifty dullahans managed to put pressure on an archduke. Of course, they were shattered into pieces before even two seconds passed.

Even that much is a good result.

They were no longer dullahans that charged blindly but a legion that knew how to hunt strong enemies in formation. That was the kind of force Kai had needed.

And even if they die, there’s no cost. I lose nothing.

If he decided to go full guerrilla warfare?

I could seriously mess with anyone, even the top eight guilds.

The gains from the past three days weren’t limited to just that. Various skill proficiencies had also improved. Unfortunately, the Advanced level 9 Swordsmanship proficiency hadn’t increased, but the proficiency for skills based on Holy Power had risen rapidly.

Skill proficiency rises faster when fighting strong enemies rather than training alone in MID Online.

In that sense, sparring with an archduke was one of the best training methods.

“Serphine, thanks for putting up with me the past three days.”

“Get lost.”

Just like when they first met, she sat cross-legged on her ice throne. The only difference was that she now had her middle finger raised. Additionally, though she tried to hide it, she still looked a little reluctant to see him go.

“I’ll come again if I get some time after everything’s done.”

“Whatever.”

When Kai completely left, and Serphine was left alone as she always had been, she let out a smirk. “If this was how I ended up, the other two won’t be sleeping much either soon.”

Serphine defined Kai with a single phrase, “A human I never want to fight again.”